Three Willamette Valley Wineries We Love
Visit the beautiful North Valley in Oregon and sample wines at Soter, Day, and Carlton Winemakers Studio.
Welcome to the weekend!
Today we’re sharing three of our favorite wineries in Oregon’s North Willamette Valley. We spent a lovely few days in this part of the state this past spring, and at about an hour from Portland, it’s an easy day trip. We’ve selected three wineries that each offer a different kind of experience, including one with a fantastic lunch. If you’d like to make a weekend of it, you’ll find all our picks for the area, including more wineries and lots of restaurants, in our Weekend Getaway: McMinnville & Oregon Wine Country newsletter.
For more travel inspiration, be sure to download our brand-new Field Guide to Savannah. This gorgeous city makes for a fun weekend trip, whether you’re traveling with friends, kids, or taking a couples’ getaway. The Field Guide is a 41-page downloadable PDF with a three-day itinerary featuring 20+ recommendations for coffee, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. You can get it for $10 on our website, though a free download of the guide is a perk for paid subscribers. More perks: access to our robust Google Map (which has more than 800 personally vetted locations!), free downloads of our entire library of Field Guides, and access to our chat, which gives you a direct line to us and other like-minded travelers to ask questions and plan your trips.
Before we head to the pool this weekend, we’re sharing our Weekend Reading List, which features a ranking of America’s best airports, some great New Jersey bars, Atlanta’s beloved chicken wings, a restored seaside Amtrak route, and more.
Thanks for reading!
— Amy Cavanaugh & Kenney Marlatt
MCMINNVILLE, ORE. — Oregon’s Willamette Valley, which is located along the Willamette River between Portland to the north and Eugene to the south, is home to more than 700 wineries. So you’ll probably need a little guidance in selecting which ones to visit.
Today we’re focusing on three of our favorites located in the North Willamette Valley, which includes the towns of McMinnville, Dundee, and Carlton. You could make the hour drive from Portland for a day of wine tasting, or stay a couple days. If you’re staying, make McMinnville, which has a lot of great restaurants, your home base (we recommend staying at the Atticus Hotel or the Compass). While the region is best known for producing excellent pinot noirs, on our recent visit we also sampled chardonnay, gamay, and riesling, among many other wines. There’s a lot to explore on the wine front, but here are three spots to start with.
Soter Vineyards
Located on a rolling 250-acre biodynamic farm, Soter Vineyards offers a few different options to explore its excellent wines. We booked the Provisions Tasting, which includes five pours of wine and seven plates that feature ingredients from the farm. The menu changes weekly, but when we visited in the spring, our tasting included shiitake mushrooms and English peas with uni butter and spinach and a barley tortellini with parsnip and onion cream. Wines are made with organic and biodynamic grapes grown on-site at the farm and other nearby vineyards. You’ll find a range of bottlings, including the terrific Estate pinot noirs, a rosé (we brought home a bottle of the fruity 2024 Soter Estates Rosé of Pinot Noir), and sparkling offerings.
How to visit: Make a reservation here
10880 NE Mineral Springs Rd, Carlton, OR | @soterwines
Day Wines
Brianne Day’s winery tasting room, called Day Camp, offers an affordable five-wine flight for $25. While you can just stop by Wednesday to Sunday, you’ll need to make a booking to go on Mondays. The tasting is leisurely, just one wine at a time, so you can really take the time to enjoy each. Day makes natural wines and sources grapes from Oregon farmers who use biodynamic, organic, and sustainable methods. The tasting rotates each day, but you might get to sample the zippy Isla Vermentino or fruity Dolcetto. Just be sure to add on a taste of their Bambino Amaro, served neat or in a Jell-O shot or highball. Snacks are on offer, including boards with Fishwife tinned fish.
How to visit: Book a reservation online or walk in
21160 OR-99W, Dundee, OR | @daywines
Carlton Winemakers Studio
Started in 2002, Carlton Winemakers Studio is a shared winemaking facility with 12 different producers operating under one roof. During a visit here, you can sample wines from all of them. Some storied wineries have gotten their start here, including Soter Vineyards and Brittan Vineyards. Today you can sample producers like the father-daughter team of Ridgecrest Vineyards (we loved their recently released pinot gris). When you visit, you can opt for the standard tasting, or let Director of Hospitality Nick George put together a tasting that matches your interests — he steered us to a low-sugar sparkling brut from alumni winemaker Lytle-Barnett that we absolutely loved.
How to visit: Reservations are required for groups larger than six (call 503-852-6100), but smaller parties can walk in
801 N Scott St, Carlton, OR | @carlton_winemakers_studio
Download All Our Savannah Recommendations
Ready to plan your trip to Savannah? Our full list of favorites is available in our Field Guide to Savannah — free for paid subscribers! This 41-page dining guide includes a curated three-day itinerary with recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and drinks. It’s downloadable for offline reading, includes Google Maps and Instagram links, and is formatted for your phone — perfect for easy reference on your next trip.
As always, you’ll find the current discount code in this month’s Weekend Getaway newsletter. It’s good all month and you can use the code to get any other Field Guide you’d like, free of charge!
The 50 Best Airports in America: “The airport has become so synonymous with misery that we often grit our teeth and power through it. Headphones in. Shuffle to the gate. Grab a sad sandwich and tune out. They are modern marvels of architecture and logistics. But many of us would rather visit the dentist.” The Washington Post decided to find the exceptions and enlisted Edward Russell, Hannah Sampson, and Andrew Van Dam to try and rank the very best. You’ll get no arguments on this list from us. (The Washington Post)
NEW YORK
Why Kinderhook Keeps Sneaking Into My Weekend Plans: “Sometimes, a short afternoon escape is enough,” writes Meredith Bethune in her newsletter, True North. “One of my favorite destinations for such a getaway is Kinderhook. Just a 30-minute drive southeast of Albany, this compact village feels like a different part of New York State entirely.” (True North)
NEW JERSEY
Where to Drink in Asbury Park: Imbibe magazine’s longstanding Where to Drink feature recently headed to the seaside city of Asbury Park. Managing Editor Penelope Bass takes readers to dives like Bond Street and classic cocktail joints like Harry’s — I’ll have the mezcal Garibaldi. (Imbibe)
GEORGIA
The Best Lemon Pepper Wings in Atlanta: “With all love and respect to the perfect summer peach, no food better symbolizes Atlanta’s spirit than lemon pepper wings,” writes Mike Jordan in Bon Appétit. “The base recipe is ripe for endless creative riffs in a city that does everything a little bit extra.” I had no idea this was a thing but here we are. Jordan walks through both the “wet” and “dry” styles and offers up some favorites around town. The photos from Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. are also a knockout. (Bon Appétit)
GULF COAST
Amtrak Revives Gulf Coast Route: Finally, a bit of welcome news for readers who like train trips. Amtrak is bringing back the Mardi Gras Service route, which takes travelers from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama, with stops in the Gulf Coast towns of Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi and Pascagoula. The service returns August 18. We’ll see you at the beach. (New York Times)
— Compiled by Kenney Marlatt
Want more? Chat with us on Substack, download our Field Guides, check out our archives, or follow us on Instagram @americanweekender. We’ll be back next week.
